Kiss and Realize
by tiffywiffyfluffykitty
Summary: Genderbent. Luke is exhausted after a mission and Natsumi wants to stay over at his place. What will happen between them and Marco, why are you playing matchmaker to them?


**Not the most imaginative of titles, but it'll do for now until I can think of something better. I wanted to do a genderbent after reading one and though it's cliché, I still think it's cute :3 hope you guys feel the same way! Review!**

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**Kiss and Realize**

I sighed as I pushed open the guild doors. That last mission had been brutal. Natsumi went around destroying everything as usual and Ezra and Grace didn't help stop at all. In fact, they seemed to have made everything worse!

"Hey, Luke!" my best guy friend, Levine, called from where he sat with his girlfriend Gael, who was once again eating scrap iron like always.

"Hey," I replied tiredly, running a hand through my longish blond hair. A group of girls nearby giggled and blushed as I did so and I winked at them, but without my usual charm. I was _that_ tired.

Natsumi burst into the guild, her long mane of pink spikes flying everywhere. "I'm home guys!" she yelled.

"Natsumi! Don't make so much noise!" Ezra scolded, armor clanking as he blew his scarlet bangs from his eyes.

Happy, Natsumi's flying Exceed, swept into the room. "Can we have fish?" she asked me excitedly. I was about to reply when I noticed that Grace was about to strip off her tank top. "Grace! Don't do that!" I yelled.

Julian, alerted by my shout, dashed over and swept Grace up. "Grace, don't do that!" he scolded. His eyes filled with tears and I swear I heard thunder in the distance. "What would I do if everyone saw your boobs? I would have to destroy all of them for even looking at my dear Grace-chan."

"Julian, just call me Grace," the girl said, sighing.

Over at the bar, Marco snickered. I knew he was thinking of getting the two of them together. Matchmaking seemed to be a weird hobby for a guy, but it never seemed to bother him. "Hey, Mark, how're you and Lance and Ella?" I asked, sliding onto my usual barstool.

"Lance? Oh he's fine. And Ella's trying so hard not to let anyone know he's in love with Steven." Marco giggled in a very girly way and I inwardly shuddered. "Can I get you anything?"

"I think I'd like something to eat," I admitted. I glanced behind me to see Natsumi on top of a table doing a weird dance. Unconsciously, I smiled at her antics, something that didn't go unnoticed by Marco.

"Ooh, looks like you've got a crush on Natsumi. Not a bad catch, Luke. She's pretty cute, but not my type." Marco winked as he set a cold-cut sandwich in front of me.

I blushed. "I don't think of Natsumi that way."

"Oh? Then would you like to explain why the two of you hang out together so much?"

"We're nakama." I took a bite of the sandwich. Turkey and ham with light mayo and lettuce but no tomato. Marco always remembers how I like my sandwiches.

Marco shakes his head. "Denial is always a sign that you like someone! And besides…" He leaned in close. "I think Natsumi just might like you." With a wink, he went to take an order from Macy, who was drinking with her friend Waverly.

I stared after him, still chewing my sandwich. I nearly choked when Natsumi suddenly came up behind me. "Hey, Luke!"

"What do you want?" I coughed, hitting my chest.

"I'm tired. Let's go home!" she whined.

"Don't you have your own home to go to?" I asked, turning back to my sandwich.

"But I like your home!" Natsumi hopped onto the barstool next to mine, swinging her legs. Some of her hair fell over her eyes and I felt the strangest urge to tuck the strands behind her ear.

I kept my voice even as I replied. "But you always trash my house whenever you come over."

"Do not!" Her lower lip jutted out in a pout— something I found incredibly cute.

"Do too." I finished my food and put some Jewels on the counter. "Keep the change, Marco!" I called.

The white-haired boy raised his hand in farewell and returned to filling up the tankards in his hand. I strolled out the door after saying my goodbyes, Natsumi trailing after me like a lost puppy. "But I still wanna go to your place."

I sighed, glancing at the setting sun. At this rate, if Natsumi still does get home, it'll be dark by the time she reaches her cottage and somehow, this makes me uncomfortable. "Alright. Might as well stay the night if you want. It's getting dark."

"Yippiee!" Natsumi cheered, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. I blushed and she let go. "Come on!" She took my hand and pulled me after her.

"Wait! I need to go to the supermarket…"

"Aww." She frowned, but I was adamant. We spent the next half hour buying groceries. Natsumi pleaded for me to buy her chips and ramen, but I only let her choose one bag of chips and one pack of ramen. Naturally, she chose the largest ones.

By the time we finally got back to my apartment, Natsumi's stomach was rumbling and I was even more tired than usual. "Can we eat something?" she asked.

I smiled tiredly at her. "Sure. What do you want?"

"Ramen!" she cheered and I cooked the ramen for her before ducking into the bathroom with my pajamas. "I'll be back out soon!" I called to her.

I quickly stripped and lowered myself into the tub, sighing with contentment. Pouring bubble bath soap into the tub, I created a mound of the stuff and leaned back.

"That looks like fun." I nearly flew out of the tub. Natsumi was crouched by me, staring at the bubbles. I turned redder than Ezra's hair. "Natsumi! You can't come in here when I'm taking a bath!"

"But I wanna join too!" she pouted.

I almost had a nosebleed from the mental images. "You're a girl! You can't take a bath with a guy!"

"But I took a bath with Grace and Ezra before! What's the difference?"

I stared at her. Does this girl have any modesty? "Well, you have a… chest and stuff and I… have my own…" I trailed off, groaning as I covered my face with my hands. This was so embarrassing.

A rustle of fabric and then something was slipping into the water with me. My eyes flew open with shock as I saw Natsumi settling into the tub with me. Naked. Holy—

"This feels so good!" Natsumi squealed, throwing the bubbles up into the air. Thankfully, there was still enough to cover her chest.

"Don't do that," I pleaded. I had no desire to get slapped if I accidentally got a glimpse at her assets.

To my relief, she stopped, but then she came over and sat next to me! I almost collapsed from all the blood rushing to my head. "Wh-What are you doing?!"

"Don't you want me to wash your back?" she asked. I blinked at her and she turned away, turning crimson. "Well, if you don't want to…"

"No! Uhh, sure." I turned my back to her. "Don't look," I warned her. Natsumi nodded and turned away, covering her eyes. I quickly got out and put a towel over my lap. "Okay."

I didn't see when Natsumi turned around, but I could feel her hands scrubbing at my back with a soapy towel. "Is this alright?" she asked, voice oddly subdued.

"Yeah." We were quiet for a long time. Natsumi rinsed me off and got out so I could wash her back. I was careful to keep my eyes adverted.

Done, we settled back in the tub, facing each other. I watched as she played with the bubbles. "You've never had a bubble bath before?"

She shook her head. "No. Didn't really need one."

"If you like it so much, you can take a bottle of bubble bath soap back with you."

Natsumi looked embarrassed. "I don't have a tub."

"Oh." She nodded and we lapsed back to an awkward silence. I didn't understand. Usually, she was so easy to talk with, now I can't find anything to talk about.

Finally, Natsumi decided to get up. Unprepared, I quickly twisted the other way, but accidentally splashed out some of the water and soaked Natsumi's clothes. "Oh no! I'm so sorry, Natsumi!"

"It's ok. Just give me something of yours to wear." She was oddly calm about this.

I nodded and reached over and grabbed the other towel, getting up and wrapping it around my waist. "Wait here." I stepped out and went to my dresser, where I pulled out an old white and blue shirt of mine and a pair of shorts. I handed them to her and got my own clothes, changing in the living room while Natsumi changed in the bathroom. As soon as I was done, I washed her ramen bowl, chopsticks, and the pot. By the time I was done with that, she's come out.

I was speechless. The shirt was a little big for her and so were the shorts, but… she looked absolutely breathtaking. She scowled a little. "What? Do I look ridiculous?"

I quickly shook my head. "No! You look really good in them." I cleared my throat and went inside the bathroom to brush my teeth and hang up her wet clothes. "Sorry about your clothes, by the way."

"Nah, it's fine." Natsumi grinned at me as she plopped down on my bed. I didn't feel like kicking her out so I went to make myself comfortable on the couch. "What are you doing?" her voice was sharp.

I looked at her confused. "Well, since you're sleeping on the bed, I thought I'll sleep on the couch."

Natsumi looked angry. "I want you to sleep on the bed."

"But Natsumi, it's not right."

"Why? I sleep next to you all the time."

"And while uninvited," I muttered. She glared and I sighed. I was giving up a lot today. "Fine." I went to her. "Move over."

Looking unabashed, she did and I carefully slid in next to her. This wouldn't be the first time I slept next to her, but for some reason, I was more cautious about it this time. When I finally settled down on my back, Natsumi was on her side, staring at me. "Something wrong?" I asked.

In response, she took my right arm and put it around her before snuggling up to my side. I blushed. Like this… it was like we were a couple. "Nothing wrong now," she murmured. Yawning widely, she snuggled further into me. "Night…"

"Night…" I whispered, shutting off the light.

For the longest time, I tried to sleep. I tried counting sheep, but they somehow turned to lamb chops. I tried thinking about when I needed to pay my rent again, but all that came up was a scary picture of my landlord's face. Groaning softly, I looked down.

My breath caught.

Natsumi was still sleeping peacefully, lips slightly parted. The moonlight shone in through the drapes and her pink hair was silvered and shone slightly on the tips of her long spikes. Her eyelashes looked very long and fine.

I didn't know I was leaning towards her in fascination when her eyes suddenly opened. "What are you staring at me for?"

I flushed with embarrassment, but managed to say, "Why are you snuggling up to me for?"

"You don't like it?" her voice was sad and disappointed.

I didn't like how I made her upset. "No. I was just surprised. You usually don't do this."

"Oh. I thought you might like it, cause Marco told me to take a bath with you and then snuggle up to you."

Marco, you son of a— "Marco told you this?" I asked, voice tight.

"You don't mind right? Marco told me to do this if I liked you and he said you liked me back."

I almost began swearing, but stopped. "Wait… you said if you liked me?"

Natsumi clapped her hands over her mouth and turned away, her back to me. But I wasn't about to let her go. I pressed closer to her. "So if you did all that today, it means you like me?" I pulled gently at one of her spikes.

She whirled around, furious. "Yeah, so what if I do? I—" But I suddenly pressed my lips to hers, effectively shutting her up.

I wasn't sure what I was doing, but this… it was so right. I found myself pressing closer to her, one hand going behind her head as I tilted my head. She made a small sound in her throat and I pulled back to see her staring at me with half-lidded eyes and lips slightly swollen from my kissing. I couldn't help it— I kissed her again.

"Luke!" she said against my mouth and I pulled away, mortified by what I had done.

"I'm so sorry, Natsumi." My voice was horrified. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Natsumi shushed me with a hand over my mouth. "Give me a moment," she whispered a little hoarsely. I nodded and she removed her hand.

I lay staring up at the ceiling, my mind whirling. I had just kissed my best friend. I kissed Natsumi. Why did I do that?

Marco's voice wandered annoyingly through my brain. "_Ooh, looks like you've got a crush on Natsumi…"_

A crush? Is that why I kissed her? But don't people kiss other people when they're in love?

I thoughts came to a crashing halt. Love? Did I just imply to myself… that I'm in love with Natsumi? Natsumi Dragneel, the hot-tempered Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail? Of all girls, her?

But the more I thought, the more it seemed to… make sense. The way we hit it off so quickly, how we understood each other, the way I never really minded whenever she stole my food or hugged me out of nowhere even though I complain about it.

Am I really in love with Natsumi?

I turned my head to look at her and see her watching me with wide eyes. "Natsumi?" I whispered.

She blushed and turned towards me, hiding her face in my arm. I hesitatingly ran a hand through her pink spikes. "It's ok."

Then I froze when she popped up a second later to press her lips to mine. After a moment of astonishment, I wrapped my arms around her slim frame and deepened the kiss, hungrily exploring the taste of her in my mouth. Her scent reached my nose and my mind whirled from it and the kiss and I never wanted to let her go.

I guess I really am in love after all.


End file.
